Blame, Bugs and Bros
by Zelgadis55
Summary: ABC Challenge. B – 2k3 Turtles - He had done nothing wrong, for once... and if he ran, he would only appear guilty. "There you are, you little..." Set any time after series 4. Please R&R


Series: TMNT

Author: Zelgadis55

Beta: imjustpeachee Thank you :-) If you haven't read her stuff, what are you waiting for? Go check her out when you finish this story!

Rating: T for language.

Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon.

Warnings: Small amount of undetailed violence (hey, it's TMNT, what do you expect, a pixie dance?) and Raph has a nasty mouth.

Summary: ABC Challenge. B – 2k3 Turtles - He had done nothing wrong, for once... and if he ran, he would only appear guilty. "There you are, you damn, little..." Set any time after series 4.

**Blame, Bugs and Bros.**

"_MIKEY!_"

Mikey's head shot up and his eyes darted around the room in panic. He knew _that_ tone. That was Raph's 'You've gone too far with your latest prank and now I'm gonna kick your shell in' tone but the only problem was, Mikey hadn't actually set up any pranks for well over a week now. It wasn't that he was trying to be good or turn over a new leaf or anything utterly ridiculous like that, he was simply wanting to lull his bros into a false sense of security; after the build up of course where they would all start to worry about when, where and in what form the next prank would be. The edgy anticipation of his brothers alone was worth the laugh and the wait.

In this particular mood of Raph's though, Mikey knew better than to rile him further, however since he had done nothing wrong, for once... that he could think of anyway... Mikey wanted to try to explain. If he ran, he would only appear guilty but annoyingly, Raph was _not_ in a listening mood. Michelangelo bounced lightly to his feet, indecisive about what he should do, run or fight.

"There you are, you damn, little shit!" Raph growled ominously from the kitchen doorway.

Mikey swallowed, grinned disarmingly and held up both hands placating, "Whatever it was Raphie, I really didn't do it!"

Raph's scowl deepened as he propelled himself across the room and Mikey felt himself begin to panic again, 'Yep, should've just run,' he thought, turning to bolt. Unfortunately in his alarm, he forgot he had pulled the side table to the front of the couch for his comic stack to sit on while he lay there reading and he tripped. Flailing, Mikey managed to regain his balance with a sort of hop and stumble, still knocking the little table over in the process and despite his save, his misstep cost him dearly.

"Oof!" The breath was knocked right out of Mikey as one hundred and eighty pounds of irate brother tackled him, making both turtles crash, smack dab into the ground. Mikey winced as he heard the small, wooden table shatter into pieces and for a brief moment, he worried about the state of his comics that weren't in their covers before remembering he had bigger things to worry about. Desperately, he rolled over, trying to regain his breath even while doing his best to fend Raph off, who was already pounding his fists mercilessly into him. Blows rained down on his upper plastron and arms as he protected his face. "Ra...ph! Stop! Come... on, bro! I don't... even know what you... think I did!"

"Like shell ya don't, Mikey!" Raph snarled furiously, "I've had it up to here with your damned pranks!"

Mikey clenched his eyes tight as a particularly solid punch landed on his left arm, both making it numb and bash into his face. "Ow! Raph! Stop it!" Mikey yelled back moments later. "Just... Why can't you ask questions first, bro? I haven't even pranked anyone for over a week now! What do you think I even did?"

"As if you don't know!"

"I don't! Seriously, just humour me. _Tell_ me!"

Raph paused in his flurry of strikes and Mikey tentatively opened his eyes and lowered his arms just a little.

"Roaches in my cereal sound familiar, huh?" Raph sneered. "Two livin', scuttlin', disgustin' roaches, fallin' out as I poured it into the bowl!"

Some small, traitorous part of Mikey found it vaguely amusing enough for his body to betray him with a half smothered snort of laughter. The rest of him thought that it was just plain gross and he desperately tried to straighten his face, however, it was too late. Raph's face twisted angrily again as he drew back his fist to start hitting once more.

Mikey couldn't speak fast enough. "Raph! I promise you, I didn't do it! I'd never go _that_ far for a prank, bro!"

"Like shell ya wouldn't, bonehead!" Raph spat, "Ya pull crap like this all the time!"

"With toy, plastic, _fake_ bugs, sure, not _real_ ones! I'd never put a real roach in food, that's just gross! Down your shell maybe but never in food! Come on Raph, you've gotta believe me!" Mikey pleaded, though it was obvious his brother was beyond listening to him.

"What is going on?" Leonardo's voice cut in sharply as he entered the room with Donatello, the sounds of the vicious fight drawing them in like flies to rotting meat.

Mikey felt a huge rush of relief; at last the cavalry had arrived.

"What's goin' on is that this prankin' little shit thinks it's funny stickin' live roaches in my cereal!"

"What?" Donnie asked in shock from beside Leo.

"Is this true, Michelangelo?" Leo asked in an accusing tone.

"_No_!"

"Even laughed when I 'humoured' 'im and told 'im what he did!" Raph sneered, briefly looking away from Mikey to Leo.

Mikey could tell things were not going well for him and whether Leo and Donnie believed him or not, Raph was currently just too incensed. Already, he could feel Raph tensing up to start walloping him all over again. With a sudden strength born of desperation, Mikey dug deep within, giving a rough, abrupt twist and knocking Raph off balance enough to manage to push him away. He hurriedly bound to his feet and ran. He needed to get away and give Raph a chance to cool down and see reason, but Raph would never be able do that with himself in range so he bolted for the lair door and left.

- . - . -

Leonardo crossed his arms and levelled his steady gaze at Raphael. "Are you absolutely certain Mikey put roaches in the packet?"

Raph snarled, "Who the shell else woulda done it, Fearless? He does this kinda crap alla the time and I'm sick of it! He went too far with this one Leo and you know it!"

Leo felt Donnie's calm gaze on him.

"I doubt even Mikey would do something like that, Leo. We really need to hear his side of the story too."

"He did it alright! Even laughed about it in my face as I was poundin' sense inta him!" Raph retorted angrily, emphasising his words by punching his right fist into his left hand with a solid sounding thwack! "He's gotta learn, some lines ya just _don't_ cross!"

Leo's face hardened, "Raph is right about one thing though. Michelangelo needs to learn not to go too far with his pranks."

"We don't even know for certain that he did what Raph says, Leo," Donnie protested, ever the voice of reason.

"You callin' me a liar, Don?"

"No! Of course not! I have no doubt that what you say happened happened, however, did you ask him or did you just jump to the conclusion that Mikey was the culprit responsible?" Donnie placated.

Raph merely glowered with a growl.

Leo sighed. He didn't want to believe Mikey would do such a thing, but with his mischievous little brother's history... He made his decision and looked directly at Raph. "I'll deal with Mikey."

"_What?_" Raph shook his head furiously, stepping up into Leo's face. "You've gotta be kiddin'! This is my fight, Leo! It was me the little turd wronged so it's up to me to deal with the brat!"

"No, it is not." Leo commanded firmly. "You have already done far more than enough. Go calm down, take a run in the sewers. Spend the day at Casey's or something, just make sure you stay out of sight!"

Raph gave Leo a condescending look, "I'm hardly goin' to the surface for the first time. You don't need to keep remindin' me not to scare the locals every, single time you know!"

"I know I don't but right now you are not thinking clearly. Just go, Raph, I'll handle this."

"Fine!" Raph snarled, "But if you go easy on 'im, don't think I won't be steppin' back in!" With that, Raph whirled and stormed out, swearing up a storm as he left.

Relieved, Leo straightened and turned to Donatello. "Right! Can you please track Mikey's shell-cell?"

"Of course, though given the circumstances of when and how he left, Mikey is unlikely to have it on him." Donnie gave a small smile, "It's still worth a try though."

He went to his lab and emerged a few moments later with the portable tracker in hand, turning it on as he walked out. Within moments they had the signal and quickly tracked the wayward turtle's phone to his bedroom.

"I guess we'll just have to track Mikey down the old fashioned way," Leo said, leading the way to the lair's entrance.

"Maybe not," Donnie observed. He pointed to the empty place near the door where Mikey's skateboard was usually stored when not in use. "I would be willing to bet he went to our old skate park. He still goes there occasionally when he's upset or just wants some time alone."

"Really?" Leo asked doubtfully, "Mikey alone?"

"Everybody needs some alone time on occasion, Leo, no matter how social they normally are. People would go mad otherwise."

Leo smirked faintly, "I think it's a little too late for Mikey. Seriously though, that old skate park of ours is so far from here. It's near our old lair two homes ago."

Donnie smiled confidently, "Trust me, Leo. That will be where Mikey went."

"Alright. Let's go then."

"Leo?"

"Yes, Don?"

"Just promise me one thing."

Leo stopped, turning to look into Donnie's sincere face. "If it is something I can make a promise about, of course."

"Just make sure to hear Mikey out first."

- . - . -

The old underground skating playground was about a ten minute journey, on wheels, from their former home. When the weather was fairly dry, the large area made for a great makeshift skate park and when they were younger, Donnie had built of number of varying ramps and jumps in the area to make it all the more so. When they had been ten, it has been his Christmas project for the family; not just for Mikey's skateboard but also for Leo's scooter, Raph's blades and his bike. Not to mention also for Master Splinter's peace of mind, enabling him to know that his sons had a fairly safe place to make use of their wheels not far from home. Over the years, until their enforced abandonment of their old home due to the M.O.U.S.E.R. attack, Donnie had kept it well maintained.

And then their lives were thrown into disarray.

Not only had they been forced to find a new home, further away and on the wrong side of their previous one; there had simply been too much debris and ruin in that area of the sewers to make returning to their park easy or safe. Donnie was just far too busy setting up their new home with security features and all the comforts their family, especially Mikey, had demanded.

On top of all that, the small family had found their lives inextricably linked with the surface world, the inherent dangers that came with the territory and the wonderful friends they had never seriously dared to believe being able to make. People that became more like family than just merely friends.

Suffice it to say, the equipment in the old, home made skate park fell into ruin, rotting away, becoming dilapidated over time from the occasional flooding due to heavy rains and melting snow during the several years that passed since.

Mikey, however, didn't care about any of that. This place had far too many good and fun memories of playing here both by himself and with his bros, of perfecting skate tricks and proudly showing them off to his father. He didn't come here much any more. They were simply too far away for the journey to be convenient. Though he still came sometimes, usually whenever he needed a place to go when Raph needed time to calm down and his own presence would just be too detrimental to his hot headed brother.

As the years passed, Mikey had cleared the old equipment whenever he realised it was too damaged to still be safe to use and now there was only one small mini ramp remaining. With a pang in his heart, Mikey realised that last ramp would no longer hold his weight.

When Leo and Donnie entered the old sewer skate park the better part of an hour later; they had used the sewer slider to hasten much of their journey, it was to the sight of Michelangelo sadly, almost lethargically moving the rotted ramp over to the pile of remains with all the other pieces of ramps, jumps and obstacles.

Mikey stiffened as he suddenly became aware he had company and he warily turned to face Leo and Donnie. Leo had a tight, stern look on his countenance which suggested he was getting ready to lecture and Donnie... Mikey realised his brother was looking sadly upon the pile of decaying wood that, though still vaguely recognisable, probably wasn't much good for anything but kindling any more.

Donnie smiled wistfully, "We really did have some good times here, didn't we."

Mikey nodded, even as his eyes slid warily back towards Leo's. "It wasn't me, Leo. I really didn't do what Raph thinks I did. I'd never do something so gross and I'd _never_ deliberately ruin food like that. We all learnt the hard way how precious it is..." Mikey said quietly, sincerely. Leo's rigid expression didn't budge though, even as his eyes searched Mikey's for any sign of duplicity. Mikey tore his gaze from the steely hold of his oldest brother's and turned pleadingly to Donnie.

"You believe me, right Don?" he asked plaintively. "You made me promise not to do something like that when we were... I dunno... seven? Eight? Maybe nine years old? I don't remember exactly."

Donnie's gaze left the shattered woodpile of their youth and he smiled softly at Mikey, "We were eight."

"If it wasn't you, Michelangelo, then who else could have have been?" Leo asked neutrally.

Mikey shrugged. Leo wasn't accusing him at least, but neither was he taking his word for it. "Was it that awful stuff only Raph eats? You know how bad he is at sealing packets when he's done. He's too impatient to care." Mikey, being the primary cook had plenty of opportunity to discover that Raph usually just tossed open and unfinished packets of food back in the cupboard without either resealing or putting into a closable container. It was nothing deliberate but he either just didn't realise or care since someone else tended to fix the problem soon after. No one else would have even noticed the issue with Raph's favourite cereal though. No one else liked the stuff and therefore they all avoided it.

"Mikey has a point, Leo." Donnie supported gently.

"Besides bro, you know I'm always too happy to own up to my pranks. Where's the fun without the credit?" On the spur of the moment, Mikey grinned cheekily as he added, "Not to mention the chase!"

Moments passed before Leo's expression softened at last and Mikey breathed a sigh of relief. Now the only one still unjustly blaming him was Raph himself. That was the one that would be harder to talk his way out of, at least until his brother calmed down.

"I'm sorry, Mikey, but you do understand that I needed to fairly hear both sides of the story. Can I ask you something else though?" Mikey nodded so Leo continued. "Why did you laugh at Raph when he told you what happened?"

"I didn't!" Mikey protested before remembering, "Oh yeah, heh! Well dude, you gotta admit it, it was kinda funny for like, half a second."

"More like just plain disgusting." Leo admonished sternly.

"Well, yeah... heh but really, I wasn't laughing. Who could laugh while getting their shell bashed in by a psycho hot head anyway?" Mikey asked pointedly while a faint smile played across his face.

Leonardo sighed before looking from Mikey to Donnie and back again. "Come on then, let's go home." He reached out to put an arm around each of his present younger brothers but Mikey pulled away.

"Uh... Leo... not that I don't wanna go home or anything but Raphie hasn't had enough time to chill yet."

"It's okay Mikey, Leo sent Raph to Casey's for the day. He won't be home for hours." Donnie explained, speaking up before Leo could respond.

Mikey smiled as Leo held out his arm again and this time, Mikey allowed his brother to pull him in and lead them back home.

- . - . -

When Mikey, Leo and Donnie eventually reached home again, Raphael was already there, pacing anxiously around the entertainment room as he waited.

Mikey stopped still, cautious and ready to bolt again if need be upon seeing him. It wasn't that he was afraid; it's just that he knew Raph in that kind of mood was not someone that could be reasoned with. He didn't want to give Raph something to regret if he ended up seriously injured. Neither did he want to accidentally hurt his brother in trying to defend himself if it really came down to it.

Raph stopped pacing to look sheepishly in Mikey's direction and Mikey relaxed a little.

"I thought I told you to go calm down at Casey's?" Leo said calmly, watching carefully for any sign of further trouble.

"Yeah but I never got there, Fearless." Raph admitted. "By the time I got to the nearest manhole, I'd been thinkin'."

Raph turned his golden gaze to his younger brother.

"I'm sorry, Mikey. I shoulda given you the chance to explain insteada just attackin' you."

Mikey nodded, feeling his tension ease further.

"You may be an awful, rotten, boneheaded, _brat_ of a prankster but you never lie about it after the prank is done an'..."

"And?" Mikey teased lightly after a pause, feeling safe again.

"I remember hearin' you an' Don talkin' back when we were tots about your prankin' and Donnie makin' you promise never to put real bugs in food..." Raph admitted heavily. "I shoulda known you'd never go that far."

Mikey grinned now, happy to finally be believed. "And?" he pressed.

Raph frowned, "An' what, Mikey?"

"And what are you going to do to make up for it?"

Raph's frown turned into a scowl. "Already said sorry and I don't do sorry. Think yourself lucky you got that much."

"Yeah, sorry for not believing me but what about for the bruising and the dead arm?"

"Mikey?" Donnie's concerned voice interjected but Mikey waved him off, his attention fully on Raph as he taunted him with a twinkle in his eyes.

"You marked my face, Raphie. How am I supposed to keep the claim on my title of the 'pretty one' with my face all bruised?"

"Easy! The 'pretty' mottlin' of bruised flesh will help you keep it!" Raph retorted, slamming his fist playfully into his other hand. "Come here, you damn shell-for-brains!"

Mikey laughed as he saw Raph launch himself across the room towards him. Gone was the real anger displayed only a few short hours previously and in its place was the normal Raph he knew and loved to mock. "Argh!" he screamed playfully, "Leo, Donnie! Help a bro in need!"

With that, Mikey ran with Raph hot on his heels, Leo face-palming and Donnie shaking his head in light amusement.

Owari


End file.
